Five-time Olympic medalist Charles Hamelin is back to compete in his fifth and final Olympic Winter Games as part of a delegation of 215 athletes Canada is sending to Beijing.
Hamelin, the decorated short track speed skater from Sainte-Julie, Que., is one of 45 Olympic medalists on the team looking for another trip to the podium.
The Canadian Olympic Committee announced its full team on Friday. This is the third largest Winter Games contingent the country has ever fielded.
Of the 215 athletes who will travel to China to compete, 106 identify as women, the highest number ever in Canadian Winter Olympics history.
Canada brings a delegation of approximately 600 people to the Games, including athletes, coaches and staff. On Friday, the COC announced that five members of the delegation – of the 246 already arrived in Beijing – had been placed on COVID-19 protocols.
The COC did not provide the names of those in the protocols.
“Our success at the Games will be measured by the health and safety of Team Canada and the ability of athletes to step onto the playing field and achieve their dreams,” said COC athletic director Eric Myles in a statement. communicated. “We look forward to the incredible and inspiring stories that will come out of these Olympic Games.”
Sixteen-year-old snowboarder Brooke D’Hont will be the youngest athlete to compete for Canada at the Games and is one of 117 who will make their Olympic debut.
Curler Jennifer Jones, who won gold in 2014, is Canada’s oldest athlete at 47.
Ontario will be the best represented on Team Canada with 60 athletes, with Quebec not far behind with 57.
Alberta will have 40 and British Columbia will send 32.
No other province or territory will have double digit athletes. Manitoba has nine, Saskatchewan has six, Nova Scotia has four, Newfoundland and Labrador has three, and New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Yukon each have an athlete.
Nunavut and the Northwest Territories do not have an Olympic representative, and one athlete, figure skater Keegan Messing, was born outside of Canada (Alaska, USA).
The Games will take place from February 4 to February 4. 20 and take place in three different locations, Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on January 28, 2022.
The Canadian Press